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[MiHawkeye]

First year with a new boiler and so far I am loving it.  Granted we haven't had any very low temps that are consistant, but the nights where it has been in the 30s have been toasty. 

First a little back story.  Moved to a new place last year in December.  It is propane only and when we got there the tank was at <10%, so there was one fill.  From December until April we had 3 more fills for almost close to 750 gallons of use.  Paying these bills got me looking for alternative heating, and decided on a wood boiler.  Main thing bringing me to this choice is we bought acreage that the previous owners had started to let people log, and there are lots of trees down, but off the ground.  Then the research into the different boilers started.  I wanted to stay local if possible, and there were a few dealers in our area.  I also wanted a gassifier, mainly because my in-laws had a non-gasser, and all I heard was him complaining about the smoke from it.  (Don't know specifics, but looking back likely burning too green of wood).   This ultimately led me to the Heiss Heater.  I chose this one mainly because I liked the idea behind it, having the thermal mass in the refractory cement, the gassification, and the price.  Put a down payment on it and finally got it paid for, then set up installation.  All was going smooth until then.  The company had some major personel issues and installation was delayed and put off for quite some time.  If I hadn't had it paid for, I may have went somewhere else.  Ultimately after many trips out to our place, it was installed, and have it heating our dhw, house of about 2000 sq ft, and garage with  a hanging blower.  I never got a jump on cutting the wood, but got about 5 cords that was already down, but still somewhat green, cut by early September.  Since then I also have been getting pallet scraps and burning them in addition to my regular wood. 

So far I am loving the boiler.  Our house is warm, and on days that it is nice outside can get a little toasty inside.  I think our blower has came on 3 times since I started burning.  The rest of the time it heats by convection coming out of the duct work.  I can get a 24 hour burn easily out of it, and have went a few times not filling it for about 48 hours.  It is gassifying almost every thing I am putting in it, even some wood thats a little greener than I want to burn.  There is some creosote build up inside, but usually only collects around the door, not inside the firebox, and it is pretty easy to clean it off.  There is some dripping down the front and staining the paint, but that is usually my fault for the way I have been cleaning it. 

So over all, pros of the Heiss heater that I have: Good gassifier, solid construction, good idea behind the unit, simple use.  The cons I have so far: installation and customer service, little more difficult to clean than other units I have seen.  I'll post more as the year goes on as I know this has been a controversial company/heater.  If anyone has any questions feel free to put it on here or PM me.  I am in no way a agent of thier company, and will give and honest answer to your questions.

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[martyinmi]

How hot does the outside of your boiler get? It appears that yours has some type of insulation adhered to it.

A friend of mine had an uninsulated Heiss (non-gasser) a few years back that would be 160* on the side on a 20* day. He had to fill that thing 3 times a day to keep his small house (I'm guessing 1100 sq/ft) up to temperature. I'd wager that he went through at least a dozen or so cords of wood-if not more.

Do the Heiss gassers have a replaceable nozzle?

[victor6deep]

Nice

[MiHawkeye]

The outside of the boiler does not get hot at all.  There is a cement then stucco exterior with an insulation layer below that.  There is a spot one inch between the upper and lower doors on the front that is warm, but no where near hot.  In my research of this boiler, there were quite a few complaints about the exterior getting hot, and seems they changed their design and put the insulation on it.  There were a few other complaints, mainly about the doors, which also were fixed.  My top door is warm to touch, but not uncomfortable at all.  I can place my hand on it without feeling uncomfortable at all.  The bottom door is cool to touch, there is insulation all throughout the lower door, so it doesn't even get warm.  I think their product a few years ago was not a good boiler, and if it were the same I would not have went with them.  I know it stinks to use customers as guinea pigs, but things in their product have really changed for the good. 

[Scott7m]

The outside of the boiler does not get hot at all.  There is a cement then stucco exterior with an insulation layer below that.  There is a spot one inch between the upper and lower doors on the front that is warm, but no where near hot.  In my research of this boiler, there were quite a few complaints about the exterior getting hot, and seems they changed their design and put the insulation on it.  There were a few other complaints, mainly about the doors, which also were fixed.  My top door is warm to touch, but not uncomfortable at all.  I can place my hand on it without feeling uncomfortable at all.  The bottom door is cool to touch, there is insulation all throughout the lower door, so it doesn't even get warm.  I think their product a few years ago was not a good boiler, and if it were the same I would not have went with them.  I know it stinks to use customers as guinea pigs, but things in their product have really changed for the good.

Can you replace the nozzle in it?

[MiHawkeye]

I was told the nozzles are replaceable. I haven't checked on how accessible they are though, so I can't confirm/deny that yet. I am going away for a few days soon and burner will sit not burning, when I get back before I relight it, I will check on the nozzle accessibility.

[MiHawkeye]

To answer the nozzel question,  they are replaceable, but it does take some work to get to.  I just did a full clean on it last week when we got back after having it turned off for a week, and was able to find where there were, and they do look like you can replace them.....but I don't think it would be an easy task.  Also for the exterior insulation, we got dumped on by mother nature the last few days, snow stays on top of this for a few hours after falling.  The two links on top of the burner which was used for transport and getting it off their trailer do get warm, but not hot, so it does melt after a few hours.  Here is a pic of it.

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[slimjim]

That sure does look like a greenwood, not a bad boiler at all but not designed for outside install, is it pressurized?

[MiHawkeye]

Not a greenwood unit.  This is a Heiss Heater gassier, not a pressurized unit, and designed for outside installation.